So I just fished my first tournament this past weekend with a small club and got my butt kicked! I was on unfamiliar water with no partner & to be honest I was pretty nervous. For those of you out there who currently fish tournaments, or have in the past, what was your first season or even your first tournament like?

The year was 1972 I had just joined the Hemphill Bass Club whose members included Tommy Martin, Larry Nixon, Zell Rowland, Bo Dowden, Lonnie Stanley, & Harold Allen to name a few.

How did I do? Got I disagree handed to me but what I learned is still being used today.

Pretty much like yours... My wife and I did our first last August, and were quite nervous. In the madness of getting ready, we forgot our chart at home, and were fishing a part of lake winnipesaukee that we were unfamiliar with. Winni is a well known lower unit wrecker, with boulders that sneak up on ya pretty fast, making for a navigational nightmare! We stayed in the bay the whole day and weighed in with a whopping 4 lbs, finishing near the bottom of the pack.

Good news is it gets better, as each one is more of a learning experience. We improved every time out, and even grabbed a 3rd place finish in September!

Welcome to the world of tourney fishing, it is a blast, which I'm sure you'll love! Good luck!

Keep in mind it is for fun and not the Elite series. My first few tourneys were just as disappointing as yours but they only get better. If you can prefish the day before your next tournament and try as many spots as you can it will help build confidence which is the biggest part of success. Think of where the fish should be based on water temp., water clarity, current, pre spawn/spawn/post spawn. Go with your gut and fish the moment, not the past. Good luck next tournament. We all have those type of days no matter how many tourneys we fish.

Was not good, but paved me to learn the ins and outs of the tournament scene. The knowledge that is available at even 1 tournament is amazing.

My first bass tournament was on Milford Lake, KS in 2000. The wind was howling, and the water was as muddy as any I have ever seen. I tucked myself into a little cove that offered me a small degree of shelter against the wind, and I stayed there all day. I had exactly one bite all day, and I was almost too embarrassed to weigh in that one little largemouth. I felt defeated by the fish and the weather, and I was seriously reconsidering my decision to become a tournament fisherman. As it turned out, there were only two bass weighed in that day out of a field of 30 boats. Two bass and one of them was mine! It was a charity event, and there was no check to cash, but I received an Olympic style silver medal for second place. I keep that medal with my most prized possessions, and it serves as a reminder that sometimes all it takes is one bite. As Ike would say, "never give up!"

My first "real" tournament. Hmmmm. The only 2 things I really remember is my son saying to me immediatly after we launched is "Dad, you've got the crappiest boat here." , and there was a guy in the tourney who's truck was painted identical to his boat. I know we caught fish but couldn't tell you anymore. Couldn't have been too bad. Still doing it 8 years later with the same crappy boat.

I joined a small Bass Club that was run by a friend from work (at that time). I always enjoyed fishing for bass and thought this could be a great time: fish, talk with others about fishing, learn & share ideas.

1st time out I was paired with a guy named Larry. It was his boat and I was the co-angler. Found out later that we were to share the front of the boat, each getting to be in front, half the time. Never happened. I caught 2 decent sized LM and 1 decent SM. Larry caught 1 Decent LM and 2 small SM, one barely making the needed 12" mark. When we pulled up to the ramp Larry says to me "grab us two bags and I'll get our fish ready". We would load the boats onto the trailers then walk the bags of fish to the scale.

When I got to the boat with the bags Larry grabbed them and and put the fish from each well into them, handed me mine and took his. At the weigh-in my friend asked me what I'd caught, told him 2 LM & 1 SM. I weighed in 1 LM and 2 SM, including 1 very small SM. They were teasing me that I didn't know a LM from a SM.

Larry had switched the fish on me, giving me his small SM and taking one of my big LM.

That day I learned that with some people they would do anything to win even a small 13-15 person bass club champsionship.

I may join another club again some day and/or fish tournys. But for now I just enjoy spending time learning the water and catching fish.

I was 16, in my first tourney as a non-boater in a Red-Man tournament on Cayuga Lake in NY. I think I was too young to really be nervous or to know exactly what I got myself into. I ended up catching a bunch of fish, but my limit didn't add up to much. I did beat my boater, who is one of the nicest guys I've met in tournament fishing, and had a great time. Not sure if I would've continued fishing tournies had that experience not been as great as it was.

I even remember that I was using a texas-rigged 4" red shad ringworm, 8lb line, 1/8oz weight on a Berkley Lightning Rod. We were fishing a hump that topped out at about 12 feet and bottomed out around 25ft.

The year was 1972 I had just joined the Hemphill Bass Club whose members included Tommy Martin, Larry Nixon, Zell Rowland, Bo Dowden, Lonnie Stanley, & Harold Allen to name a few.

That is the greatest line-up in bass club history!!!!! You couldn't help but learn a thing or two with that club. What an honor that must have been...Larry Nixson is my angling hero!!

You fished in the Elites before there were the Elites.